Verizon Explains New Open Device Policy

Verizon Wireless is holding their Open Development conference in New York City today, outlining a radical new direction for a wireless carrier which has previously strictly controlled the devices on its network.

Verizon Wireless is holding their Open Development conference in New York City today, outlining a radical new direction for a wireless carrier which has previously strictly controlled the devices on its network.

Not only will third parties be able to connect a wide range of devices to Verizon's current CDMA and upcoming LTE networks, Verizon executives said, they'll be able to act as wholesalers and define their own service plans.

"We saw a great opportunity to tap into the innovation that you see occurring on the desktop today," said Verizon Wireless chief executive Lowell McAdam. "We saw a tidal wave of innovation that wants to come over to onto the mobile side."

Developers will be able to sign up for Verizon's new system beginning today, and download the specs for getting their gadgets activated on Verizon's network.

"Customers will be allowed to connect to our network any device that meets minimal technical standards," said Verizon vice president of open development Tony Lewis.

Those standards, as explained in surprisingly precise technical detail at the conference, aren't too obnoxious. Geeks seeking to activate non-Verizon phones on Verizon's network, though, will need to remember two things. First, those phones have to be CDMA - no European Nokia phones and no iPhones, which are all GSM. (GSM and CDMA are physically incompatible technologies, like AM and FM radio.) Second, the phones have to have Enhanced 911 connectivity to make emergency calls in the U.S. That means no high-end Korean or many foreign CDMA phones, which forgo the U.S emergency standard.

If developers want, though, they can design devices that work as cell phones on Verizon's network but without the standard Verizon user interface and applications.

"You're responsible for the UI, you're responsible for the applications," said David McCarley, Verizon's executive director of technology.

But this move is not really about attaching previously unapproved cell phones to Verizon's network, Lewis said. Verizon sees major opportunities in taking formerly wired devices and making them wireless. For instance, home security systems, health monitoring devices, handheld gaming devices, or vending machines that take credit cards could all be designed to connect to Verizon's network.

"The future lies in these machine-to-machine devices," Lewis said. "We want to ignite this M-to-M marketplace."

At the start, third parties wanting to access Verizon's network would get voice and basic, IP-based data service. They'll have to handle their own retail, marketing, and support arrangements. Verizon is willing to make deals with partners for "commercial and technical arrangements" that would let third parties use Verizon services like GPS, messaging, or Verizon's music store - at an additional cost, of course.

And cost was the big mystery floating around at the conference, at least during the morning sessions. Certifying a new device would take about four weeks, Verizon execs said. If you want to curry Verizon's favor with additional "best practices" certifications, that would take another four weeks.

But Verizon kept mum on how much certification would cost, as well as the price of the various voice and data plans involved. Lewis did promise "this process won't be lengthy, it won't be difficult, it won't be costly."

The certification process will be in place by the end of the second quarter of this year, Lewis said, "and as you can see, through the rest of the year we're open for business." Consumers should expect to see retail solutions by the end of the year, he said.

Verizon execs sounded surprisingly open to changing and adapting their processes to get more devices and choices on their network. Verizon will change their open development processes based on developer feedback, execs said, including creating new business models for "custom" services.

As GSM networks, AT&T's and T-Mobile's networks are already open to all compatible devices; that level of openness is mandatory in the GSM spec. But neither carrier is aggressively pursuing cooperation with developers or letting absolutely anyone wholesale out their network capacity. Sprint's CDMA network is relatively locked down, though they've said their upcoming WiMAX network will be much more open.

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed...
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